Life as it is
by Delora2047
Summary: Some scenes surrounding the episode Westride to explain why characters made certain choices. 1: Annie and why she took part in the land rush. 2: Annie confronts Goose about moving the markers; Goose has to face his relationship with Daisy; the Blackhole Gang sulks and plots. 3: An unexpected visit by Carson forces Zachary to remember the past.
1. Chapter 1

Set before the episode "Westride". An explanation why Annie participated in the land rush.

Thanks to Robyn for beta-reading.

_Disclaimer: 'The Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers' is copyrighted by Hearst Entertainment, Inc._

_This is a work of fanfiction, and I make no profit of it._

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><p>„Annie, can I have a word with you?"<p>

Annie stopped brushing Bellestar's hide. The horse neighed, disappointed, but she had been groomed enough. "Of course, Father."

Her father walked away from the stable toward the fields. It was late autumn, and only a few yellow stalks remained. She wondered what he wanted to talk about that couldn't wait for dinner time.

"Were you able to deliver the serum to Dora Town in time?"

"Yes, the child will recover. Thankfully, black viper poison works slowly."

The call for help had come in late yesterday afternoon. Greymalkin Ville had been the only village within five hour's traveling to still have antivenin in stock. Annie had ridden until late into the night to deliver it.

"And they treated you well?"

"They did. Let me sleep in the mayor's guest room and even gave oats to Bellestar." She faltered, not wanting to recount the pointless arguments of the evening.

"But...?" her father prodded.

Annie sighed. Her gaze wondered across the empty fields. All theirs: rye, wheat, barley, spelt, potatoes. Enough to live on, hard won by their labor.

"There was too much talk of politics. The young people believe League membership will mean free everything, and the older ones think we're selling away our land and independence."

Her father nodded understanding. "It was clear that League membership would bring dissent among people."

Annie looked up sharply. She had argued well past midnight that opening Ozark to the League was a necessity if they did not want to slowly fall back on a medieval level of technology, that technology in itself was not bad, and expanded trade was also way to meet new friends.

"Father! You voted for it on the region council."

"I did, and I stand by that. But many of us would have preferred to delay the arrival of new settlers.

We cannot simply sit back and hope that all the changes League membership brings are better access to medicine and computers."

So far, Ozark traded only a set quota of precious metals for drugs and blasters with Earth. League membership would allow them to receive more goods without becoming an Earth colony, but it too came with a price. All League worlds below a certain population density needed to open territories to new settlers.

"So the decision to have a land rush is final then?"

Her father sighed. "Yes. This spring, there will be a land rush in the territory north of the Alamo fault line. We insisted on a maximum allotment of ten hectares and a minimum tenure of five years. The land won't become a commodity to sell."

He must have seen her frown because he added: "The land doesn't belong to us. How can we keep it from others who need it?"

On Ozark, you did not own the land. It was entrusted to you, and you were not allowed to cultivate more than you needed to feed your family. The thought of owning land went against everything Annie had been taught. She believe in helping people, but lacked her father's strong generosity and charitable benevolence. She could just picture outlaws like the Blackhole Gang strutting in to claim the best pieces and turn them into money.

"We'll need referees to make sure they follow the rules of allotment. And they have to be armed."

Annie had learned the hard way that between people who did not know each other, the law often only went as far as a blaster could shoot. The rivaling communities of Ozark were sad proof of that.

"The League will send some galaxy rangers." Her father's voice sounded strained as he said that.

"The galaxy rangers are upright people."

Her father did not take up the discussion. He never did when she mentioned the galaxy rangers.

"A couple of families from David's Corner plan to relocate. Some people from the region around Eyre may follow suit. The new land is open plains, ideal for cattle raising.

If there are enough Ozarkians, there's a chance the settlers will choose to be part of the region council instead of being an independent territory."

"That won't happen." Annie liked to dream in her few idle hours, but she was realistic as to which dreams could come true.

Her father continued as though she had not said anything.

"We've not finalized the laws of the new territory yet. Once there are 1000 inhabitants, they can choose themselves if they want Basic League Law or our our Statues of Independence combined with laws of old Nebraska and a seat on the region council for each community."

They had reached a small apple orchard. Her father stopped to look at the trees. They were hardly taller than an adult person and had been picked clean of the few apples they had born. Annie made a mental note to cut them before spring to increase their yield.

There was a fond expression on her father's face that Annie couldn't quite place as he looked at the bark and the twigs. "Your mother and I planted these trees together shortly after you were born."

Her mother had died of cancer six years ago. She and her sisters had taken over their mother's duties, but an irreplaceable hole remained where her love and laughter had been. Their parents had been devoted to each other. Even as a widower, her father never looked at another woman.

Annie finally spoke. "With better medicine, fewer people will die."

"I know. That's why I think you should go live in the new territory."

She felt like he had slapped her. "You're sending me away?"

There were a few people who called her an outworlder's whore, though never to her face if they valued their teeth, but she couldn't believe her father would listen to that type of evil gossip. He had always said he would take her word of honor above all rumors.

Her father stepped closer and put a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm not banishing you, Annie. I'm asking you to undertake an important mission."

Annie wiped away a furtive tear.

"What do you mean?" She wanted to travel, not give up her home.

Her father's face grew solemn as it did when he preached at church.

"If your neighbor didn't give you bread when you were hungry, would you believe anything he preached about charity?"

"He'd be a hypocrite, but his teachings could still be right."

"We've been living here for three generations." Her father indicated the fields, the distant houses of their village and the native woods with a wide gesture.

"We know the seasons and the wild animals and how to make a bunch of hard-headed people work together. If we leave those new settlers alone, we'll be partly responsible for any death among them, and we're losing a chance to show them that small communities and small-scale agriculture are worth the trade-off against the convenience of industrialization."

Her father rarely used the language of the anti-modernists. If he did, she knew he was serious. She fought for composure but didn't trust her voice to come out steady.

Her father put his second hand on her left shoulder so that she was forced to look at him.

"We can put clauses in the treaty with the League, but these settlers will only learn to put down roots if we show them how."

"Father. I'm only 22, and I'm not a teacher."

"Your actions will speak louder than your words."

"But you and my family are here."

"You will find new friends, Annie. You have proven that you can. You've accompanied me to meetings with other villages since you were 12, and you've ridden on explorer teams since you were 14."

"I don't have a calling to go there."

Her father's features grew soft and oddly sad.

"You don't have a calling to stay here, Annie. You should long have started your own family, but you turned down three serious offers of marriage. "

"The right husband will come." It was a reassurance she kept repeating to herself ever since she had graduated high school and her former classmates had gotten engaged one after the other. But for her, mutual respect and shard love of the land wasn't enough as a basis for marriage.

"Maybe he will. And maybe you should stop waiting for him. You should start your own homestead. This village is too small for all your energy. You're doing good work on the farm, but I can also see that you ride out whenever you can."

Annie swallowed. She could see that her father had given the matter significant consideration. She owed it to him to at least think about it.

She looked at their village: the mill, the library, the communal tool shed, the town hall. There could have been more luxuries, but their life lacked no essential things. The settlers in the new territory would have to start from scratch.

"I could found my own horse farm. Most people will need horses because robosteeds are too expensive to import. It wouldn't take any fancy tools. But I'd still need buildings and supplies and..." Even as she started to formulate her plan, she realized how enormous the undertaking was.

"You wouldn't be alone in setting up the farm. We're not casting you out. All the family will help you. Consider it an early dowry."

She nodded, drawing courage from her father's confidence. "Is that what you want me to do, Father?"

He drew her into an embrace. "I think if you look into your heart, you'll see that it is what you want yourself. I'm not saying that it won't be difficult, but you've dreamed of seeing other worlds since you were a child. You should go now."

Annie leaned against her father for a moment longer, then straightened her shoulders and looked at the small apple trees. She thought of her mother's determined love and how she never shrunk from a task because it was hard.

"I will. And I need to feed my horses now. I'm going to keep the new foals for breeding my own herd."

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><p>He looked after his eldest as she walked back to the village. Once she had decided to give her loyalty and energy to someone or something, it was very hard to change her mind. He sometimes wished she wouldn't be so hasty in her judgments. But he was proud of her.<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

Author's note: I liked the episode "Westride" but everything happened so fast that I think there were a few scenes missing. This is set between the arrest of the Blackhole Gang and the final goodbye scene.

_Disclaimer: 'The Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers' is copyrighted by Hearst Entertainment, Inc._

_This is a work of fanfiction and I make no profit of it._

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><p>Annie returned to the starting line late in the afternoon. She had pushed herself and Bellestar to the limit to make up for the hours she had lost lying unconscious on the ground. If she had ridden for an unclaimed piece of land further from the river, she would have had that secure. But she could not give up without a fight against the criminal who had stolen her original claim. She squared her shoulders as she entered the hastily erected land registration office. The land registrar eyed her suspiciously when she stated the coordinates of her claim. She glared right back at him. This was her land. Finally, the official relented.<p>

"The land you claim has already been registered. However, since the claimant has been arrested for several alleged crimes, I'll give you a tentative claim, pending the other claimant's conviction."

Annie allowed herself a short triumphant smile. "She will be convicted." Treacherous snakes like the woman who had pretended to be injured in order stun Annie had no place on Ozark.

The registrar handed Annie a copy of her claim papers. The actual claim had been filed on a computer, one of many changes that came with League membership. When she stepped out of the small office, she let her gaze wander over the claim seekers' camp. Thousands had come to gain a piece of land, and many were already celebrating. She wondered how many would shake her right hand just to stab her with the left.

Bellestar neighed. Annie caressed her horse behind the ears and started to walk her toward their camping spot. She had already put a light blanket on Bellestar, but still needed to clean her. After that she would check on all her friends to see if they were unharmed.

A high pitched voice interrupted her anxious thoughts.

„Are you okay, Miss? You look ready to fall over." Two aliens the size of 10-year-old children with long snouts and flapping ears looked at her curiously. The one who had spoken wore a brown hat and matching vest. His companion was a little smaller, wore no hat and a blue vest. Both had a belt with blaster, but their intentions seemed friendly.

Annie paused her walk to greet her new neighbors as politeness demanded.

"What happened, Miss? You were well ahead of us during the race. Why did you drag yourself back long after us?" the blue-clad alien without a hat asked.

The concern in his expression touched Annie's heart.

"I was ambushed by bandits. Took me some time to make up for that."

"Bandits!" the long-snout with the brown vest shouted and put his hands on his blasters. His companion looked around hectically as though the mere mention of bandits could bring about an assault. When no gun-touting foe jumped at him, he seemed to relax.

"At least we won't need to worry about the Blackhole Gang anymore," Blue-vest said. He positively perked up at that thought. "The galaxy rangers beat them thoroughly with their own weapons. Moved the markers and lured them over the line where they could be arrested."

"They had it coming," Brown-vest cried. "Grandmother Maria always said if there was no justice in the usual way, you had to go and get it yourself."

"But they could still have other members of their gang here," Blue-vest remarked and looked around himself nervously.

"Were are you from?" Annie asked, wondering what could have engrained such jumpy behavior in them and momentarily forgetting her concern about the move of the markers and the aliens' idea of justice.

Brown-vest tipped his hat in a gesture of pride.

"Originally, we're from Tortuna; we worked on the stage coach and never missed a single run."

His shoulders sagged.

"But when our cousin Matthew was shot in a raid by dinosaur riders, and the Queen put the psycho-crystallized body of cousin Lea in our grandmother's living room, we decided to move to safer territory. Tried our luck searching for star stones in the Sorcerers' System, but had no luck. Now we've come here with the lust of our money."

"_Last_ of our money," Blue-vest corrected. "Life under the Queen was too exciting for us; if you criticized her, she would mercilessly without pity send Zanquil slavers after you, and if you happened to have the bad luck to accidentally transport Gherkins or galaxy rangers without your knowledge, she would suck the life out of you in her psycho crypt. So we decided to try living with hummings instead."

"Hummuses," Brown-vest corrected.

"Were are you from, Miss?"

Annie forced her thoughts back to Ozark. The alien's description of their home world sounded horrible. "I was born here."

"Born here?" Blue-vest's ears perked up. "Then do you have any idea what we should plant? We have never done agriculture before."

Annie drew her brows together. He probably meant they had never had their own farm, not that they had no experience with farming.

"The year is short here, only eight Earth months. You need to sow this month, before the summer storms to harvest anything before winter. If you didn't bring seeds, you have hardly any time left to buy them. You still need to plow your land and build a cabin that can withstand the batter of the storms."

"Winter?"

"Storms?"

"What does plow mean?"

Annie opened her mouth, shut it again, and finally answered politely:

"Break open the soil to sow grain."

"How do you do that?"

She stared at the two long-snouts long and hard and tried to determine if they were making fun of her. They looked genuinely curious and bewildered. She remembered her father's words about helping the new settlers to grow roots. It would be a long process

"I'll introduce you to some local farmers. Maybe you can apprentice with them during your first year here."

As an afterthought, she asked: "How did you learn to speak English?"

"We bought a used neuro-stimulator from our Uncle Jacob, a fine Pedulant trader if ever there was one. Allowed us to learn the language within 30 days. He even gave us a 10 per cent discount for the dictionary package."

Annie felt for the long-snouts even if she didn't understand how someone could come to a farmers' world without knowing anything about farming. Maybe most aliens were just honest people who needed some guidance to get off to a new start. A lot of guidance. She said her goodbye to the long-snouts called Pedulants and tied Bellestar to a peg so that she could graze.

When she arrived at her tent, she washed her face and put on a fresh blouse. She was tired enough to sleep for two days, but her own needs would have to wait. She must speak to the elders first. They were lucky there had been only one gang of outlaws among the new settlers – so far. They needed to be prepared if other criminals showed up. Finally, she found elders Isaac and Thomas.

"Annie. Thank goodness you are unhurt," elder Thomas exclaimed when he recognized her. "I could never have faced your father if something had happened to you. He shouldn't have allowed you to come alone."

Annie's neck muscles stiffened. They still treated her like a child even if she had proven herself time and again. She tried to compose herself. It wouldn't do to yell at people she owed respect.

"I am well, but we have to do something against these outlaws. We can't leave Ozark to them."

Elder Isaac, smaller and rounder than Thomas, stroked his long beard in puzzlement.

"But, the galaxy rangers arrested them. You have nothing to fear anymore."

Annie swallowed a remark how everyone welcomed the galaxy rangers when they did work that Ozarkians should have done themselves, but protested against the unwanted outside interference on all other occasions.

"These outlaws are gone, but we created a zone without laws that will attract others like them. Please. We can't wait for a constitutional assembly to form. We have to declare laws now."

She saw confusion and mild concern on Thomas and Isaac's faces an pressed on.

"If you start a petition to declare Basic League Law, the settlers from the Old Territory will join you, and the new settlers too. Many of them have fled from dire circumstances, and they trust the League. Once we have enough signatures, it will be de facto law. We can refine the details later, but we need to be able to arrest thieves and murderers now."

Elder Thomas looked like she had proposed he eat his hat and walk home on his hands.

"We understand your concerns, child, but this is a grave matter. We need to give it serious consideration before we sign over the land to the League."

Annie felt bitterness rise. They would rather perish than change. She could have cried at their stubbornness, but her anger made her push on.

"I was assaulted by a criminal who wanted my claim. She could have killed me, and no one would have been able to do anything about it because there are no laws, not even against murder."

She stopped short of mentioning everything else that could have happened. They had daughters too.

Elder Thomas looked outraged.

"You should never have left home where your family could protect you."

"We can take you back with us the day after tomorrow," elder Isaac added.

Annie could have screamed. She wanted to dowse them with cold water or shake them until they saw stars, but none of it would have done any good.

She slowly turned away."A good evening to you, and thank you for your concern."

On the inside, she was seething. They could pretend all they wanted that the Old Territory was a safe place where a woman had no need to learn how to fight; she knew it wasn't true.

She didn't pay much attention to the celebrating people as she walked back to her tent. If she had talked to the canyon walls, they would have been more responsive.

"Just organize some sheriffs and have them enforce those laws all the old villages agreed on. "

The voice startled her. "Shane! I didn't see you. And how do you know about my discussion with the elders?"

He chuckled. "You were speaking loud enough."

Annie felt mortified. She always did when someone caught her losing her temper. It hadn't even done any good. Aloud she said:

"I talked to some aliens who called themselves Pedulants. They hardly knew anything about farming. They seemed to be … drifting. I'm not sure if they can manage the hard work of running a farm or stand up to anyone."

Goose fell in step beside her. He didn't seem the least concerned by anything she had said.

"Those who have made it to the land rush are tough. They won't be cowed easily by the Blackhole Gang or anyone. Not if they have an alternative."

Annie interrupted her stride to lean against he wall of a makeshift store and take some deep breaths. She briefly wondered if the owner would stay after the land rush or leave with his profit. She knew she should have gone to bed, but her anger kept her awake and belligerent.

"We can't just appoint sheriffs. There are no laws for it."

"And no laws against it."

She thought he was joking, but a look at his eyes, serious and sympathetic, told her he wasn't.

"We can't. If we use loopholes to close other loopholes, all we do is teach people that the smartest crook wins – but not the law."

"If you allow people like the Blackhole Gang to set the rules, you lose."

"Fighting fire with fire leads to a lot of scorched Earth."

She thought of her grandmother's time where clashes of opinions lead to clashes of people and the splintering of the communities; her father's time where insults all too often were repaid with bullets, and the fragile peace she had witnessed where a gift freely given to one village was demanded as a right by all others. The New Territory had to be a new beginning.

"I wish we hadn't won this by resorting to the same sort of trickery those criminals used on us. We beat them this time, but we set a precedent by our own actions that it's acceptable to bend the rules."

His chin line tightened, his stance hardened.

She was losing ground. Her arguments were solid, but no allies to back her up.

"The intent of the rules was very clear. Everybody should have the same chance to get a piece of land. After they violated that there was no obligation to treat them fairly."

Tiredness was catching up with her, and the realization that nothing about League membership would be easy.

"Why weren't they arrested before this?"

"We didn't have the manpower for it."

It was as though she was looking into a bottomless pit.

"Then we're as alone as we've always been, just with added troubles to contend with."

"We're doing everything we can."

She closed her eyes and nodded in resignation. "How are Roy McIntyre and Cody Carson?"

"Good as new."

She straightened and resumed her walk to the camp.

"I need to rest. Thank you for checking on me. Goodbye."

"Annie, you have the chance to build something great here. Don't give up!" he called after her.

She didn't stop to greet anyone until she had reached her tent. But when she had lain down, sleep was elusive. Her thoughts kept chasing each other. The future looked grim, but she had come with dreams. Was she ready to give them up and go home?

Appointing officers seemed preposterous, but anyone could act in defense of themselves and their friends, especially if they could trust their neighbors would back them. But it would only work if people knew their neighbors. The new settlers were strangers to each other, but they could learn to work together. Someone had to form them into a coalition.

After four hours spent drifting somewhere between conscious thought and sleep, she got up. She had planned to avoid the evening's dance but reconsidered. This time she wouldn't be trying to fish for potential husbands, who never showed up anyway. She hadn't packed any fancy clothes; her words would have to do. It would be a good start to get acquainted with her new neighbors. Someone had to do it.

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><p>The conversation with Annie crossed Goose's mind again and again as he patrolled the settlers' camp. All seemed quiet now, but they didn't want anyone to exploit the calm.<p>

He had wanted to congratulate Annie and encourage her that the future wasn't written, that in fact she and her folks would write it, but something had gone wrong in their conversation. He wasn't quite sure what it was.

They'd called the authorities on Nebraska, and they were eager to try the Blackhole Gang. Nebraska was tough on cattle theft.

He thought of the Yellow Rose, five thousand Bovo cattle and the deal they had struck with the Blackhole Gang to transport the Bovo cattle to Fort Windham. People had depended on the sale of the cattle for their livelihood, and others for their food. Letting the Blackhole Gang escape had been the lesser of two evils.

If you choose the lesser of two evils, you still choose evil, his conscience interjected.

He ignored it.

He regretted not arresting Daisy and Macross earlier. He couldn't feel remorse for luring them over the line directly into galaxy ranger custody. For diplomatic reasons, it was hard to keep Macross and his cronies in prison for long. Macross's family was too well connected on their home world, and the League's shipping lines through or near Ralid territory too important. But if they foiled their plans often enough, maybe the Blackhole Gang would learn that they couldn't win and retire.

It was a game – not the pleasant Sunday afternoon variety you played with Kiwi kids on the beach, but the type of inexorable chase Wolf Den had taught him.

There were training games at the base. In a fight with the battle droids, the rules stayed valid only long enough to make you trust in them and then strike you twice as hard. Among the troopers, the rules were like gaming pieces. You weighed the gain of breaking one against the penalty and you calculated the risk of being caught. The only rule he never broke was to protect his friends.

He broke up an illegal gambling round and explained to a group of aliens that an auction meant only the highest bidder paid.

A part of him wanted to seek her and smooth things over. But then what could he say? Annie wasn't naive, but she had grown up sheltered. She'd choose right without giving any thought to the cost, and she gave her heart to people or causes unreserved once she got over her initial mistrust.

The last of the land rushers were coming in now, and finally Zachary informed him that no one was missing, and they could join the party.

He had volunteered for the late night shift guarding the Blackhole Gang so that he'd have time to listen to the wild mixture of alien and human tunes and mingle. He stayed out of most of the group dances, but got the opportunity to listen to Roy McIntyre's newest adventures in digging for precious minerals and Niko's private theories about pre-human settlement in the Empty Zone. Few of the Old Territory settlers had showed up.

Annie wasn't to be seen. Maybe she would come later, but he didn't get to find out. Zachary called him to take over his shift as a prison guard because of some problem with Carson. Goose knew Zachary would only change the roster for a good reason. Anybody could notice the tension between Zachary and Carson, but there was no way either one of them would divulge what it was about.

When Goose entered the improvised prison, Doc was tired and handed over his post without much fanfare. "So uneventful I started playing rummy with my tweakers and worked on their programs until they won," was his only comment.

Goose took a chair, drew his blaster and prepared for a night of suppressed hostility with Macross and company. He studied the six criminals, hand-cuffed and on the other side of the bars. Except for Daisy and Macross, they were sulking. Macross looked as though his surroundings were far beneath him, and Daisy took only casual notice when he entered the room.

He wondered why they had come to Ozark. The land wasn't worth their efforts, and the planet was too far out of the way to be a good base. For Macross, he would have believed spite, but that wouldn't have been enough to drag Daisy along. She chose her targets well. He could still see her influence in the gang: careful reconnaissance, an unexpected maneuver and limited violence. As to Macross, Roy had been lucky the Ralid preferred gloating to killing. The other four were just thugs who wanted money the easy way and didn't have the brains to think for themselves how to get it.

Daisy fixed her gaze at the door. She had no chance of escape, but it allowed her to keep him within her field of vision. He felt both annoyed and relieved that she ignored him. She was the only one he suspected of devising a prison break plan beyond brute force.

He wondered why she had struck it up with Macross again. She would have been better off on her own, and certainly was capable enough. But if she wanted to take the rest of the gang with her, she needed to build her influence and bide her time. Still, it didn't explain why she had come to an out-of-the-way place like Ozark for a plot of land that couldn't be sold within the next five years.

Warthog sneezed, and Greenskin joked he must be allergic to galaxy rangers. Greenhair and Featherhead laughed. Macross sneered but didn't interrupt his brooding about revenge or loftier accommodations.

Goose growled. He could threaten them to ensure they remained quiet, but he'd lose a chance to gain information about the gang structure if he did. He glared at them instead, hostile enough to cow them, subdued enough to keep them talking. He threw out a bait.

"Stolen riches vaporize as easily as star stones in the sun."

Macross didn't even twitch. Greenskin started to argue with Warthog about some money he owed him. Greenhair popped his knuckles.

Daisy stretched her legs and turned to face him.

"Are you gonna stare at us all night, or are you up for a game?"

"Yeah, let's play a round of poker, and the winner is allowed to leave," Greenhair suggested eagerly. With one look of Daisy's, he fell silent.

"You've already lost," Goose countered.

"There's always another round. We won't be here forever, and you won't always be on the other side."

"It doesn't matter how many rounds you play, you will always lose in the end."

"Want to bet?" She smiled her most seductive smile at him. Deliberately false. She wouldn't play the same game twice, and she let him know it.

"You put in a lot of effort for a little piece of dirt."

"It's fertile ground. It wouldn't have been bad to own some land, especially since I've never owned any. Like most of our competitors."

She leaned back against the wall in a more comfortable position. The handcuffs limited her movements, but did not limit her grace. Given what she was capable of, her remarks had been far too blunt.

"Want to make a prediction about the future of this wonderful planet? From what I've seen only the most desperate of the desperate care to come here. Plus some acquaintances of mine." Her lips twitched into a facsimile of a smile.

She was offering information about other criminals as a bargain. He wondered what she hoped to gain. Any tactical information he let slip would dated by the time she got out of prison. But they would meet again, and Daisy knew how to draw people's strings. He'd need to be careful what he revealed about himself and his friends. Of course, there was no winning without risk.

The rest of the gang didn't comprehend her gambit. They kept bickering whose fault it was they had been caught and who should pay for the saloon bill.

"Profit margins on Tortuna are higher, and law enforcement is laxer." Anything he could learn about her motives for traveling to Ozark would help him gauge her.

She rearranged her hair as well as she could without her hands, all the while giving the bored and slightly disdainful expression of a customer in variety show who has been waiting too long for the next act to begin.

"Law enforcement on Tortuna is non-existent, which is almost as bad as too much of it. As for profits, you have to start small if you want to build a large business. This is a place that doesn't ask for id marks, or about previous experience, and some of those enterprising new folks have interesting things to barter."

He was about to say that penny saving or petty crime wasn't like her when realization sunk in. She wasn't talking about her own acquaintances. She'd been a bounty hunter, and no matter what side of the law her old contacts stood on, they weren't homesteaders. But the alien gang members had all sorts of gullible cousins who thought star stones where just lying around waiting to be picked up on human settler worlds. A base to help those displaced cousins would gain her band loyalty. This wasn't about Ozark. It was part of her bid to oust Macross.

He didn't show his satisfaction.

"You plan to deal in discounted borrower's notes?"

She gave a dry laugh.

"It can't be more boring than enforcing the number of legs a horse is supposed to have."

She suddenly fixed her eyes on him, her gaze almost contemplative, assessing him.

"Though I surmise some people can enjoy settling down peacefully and watching the sunrise from the same patch of earth every morning."

She leaned back and wrapped her poncho around herself. He wondered what he'd given her to make her consider the game finished.

Unfortunately, the other criminals weren't. Featherhead and Warthog wanted to play categories until he snapped and shut them up. The revelry from the party grew louder despite the alcohol prohibition.

"I hope they won't lynch us," Featherhead squeaked.

"Don't worry, Featherhead," Daisy purred though her eyes were icy. "The rangers will protect us. They're the good guys after all. Besides, only convicted criminals lose their land, and only the living can be convicted of a crime. The rangers wouldn't want their friends' land to fall back to the general pool."

It was a low hit. He'd save her life and arrest her afterwards no matter the circumstances, and she knew it.

The night dragged on, and he learned more than he'd ever cared about the criminals' preferences in Tri-D videos and boots until he threatened to punch them into hyperspace if they said one more word.

He turned over his shift to Niko at midnight. The cool night air and the sky full of stars refreshed him. Watching the Blackhole Gang had been like staring into an alligator's mouth: unpleasant and boring.

The streets were quiet. All the revelers had gone to their tents or hotel rooms. He spied a moving shadow next to one of the buildings and was surprised when he saw Annie coming toward him.

"Can I talk to you?" She looked tense and he wondered if something had happened, but then she would have gone to one of his colleagues earlier.

"Of course."

She looked at her feet, clasped and unclasped her hands before she finally spoke.

"I wanted to thank you for your help in catching those outlaws. I didn't appreciate it at the time, and I'm sorry for my harsh words."

He remembered their almost-argument, but hadn't expected her to bring it up again, let alone apologize. "I already forgot about that."

"It's better to forgive than to forget," she said softly. Then she shook her head and said more loudly "The next time I want to help an unconscious person, I'll do it with a ten foot pole."

Posing as the victim of an assault to rob one's helpers was a common ploy in some slums and border towns. He didn't tell her. Before his inner eyes, he could still see Daisy's picture of an Ozark full of desperadoes. He wanted to believe in a better future for the planet and look at it with Annie's hope instead.

She was watching him from the corner of her eyes, and he remembered to say something.

"You're willing to learn, Annie, and you won't fall for the same trick twice."

"I talked to some of the settlers that I know from the Old Territory, and they're willing to accept some of the newcomers who don't know farming as apprentices so they won't starve during the first year. But there are more problems. Most of the aliens aren't going to send their children to school, and there are no doctors for their species here. I know I can teach some hours a week, I've done it before, but it just won't be enough. And I know nothing about medicine beyond first aid."

She was a good planner, and she would be able to surmount all the obstacles she was listing now.

"I'm sure you'd be a great teacher, Annie, but there are others who can do it as well. What this settlement really needs is someone who organizes all the things you spoke about. A leader."

She paused her hand in adjusting her hat and slowly took it down.

"I'm just one of many who could do that."

"The important thing is that you can and will do it."

She didn't answer and looked up to the night sky instead.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Why did you become a galaxy ranger?"

It was question to which he had rehearsed the answer, refined on numerous social occasions which his supervisors had ordered him to attend. He knew the answers that would keep the conversation flowing without revealing anything.

'A paid adventure.' 'It allows me to see wonderful worlds like this.' 'I enjoy saving the universe.'

She deserved better than that. He didn't want to tell her half truths, and he wasn't ready to talk about Wolf Den.

"I didn't have many choices what I could become. This was the best one."

The answer seemed to astonish her. She looked him over for a moment before turning her gaze to the distance as though processing what he had said. "We don't choose our choices."

He waited for more questions, but she walked next to him silently.

"From what I know about you it was a good choice." A light smile appeared on her lips and lit her eyes. "How long have you been a galaxy ranger?"

"Two and a half years."

"After training?"

"Including training." He could predict the next question.

She stopped again. "How old are you then?"

"Younger than I look." It was one of the things he explained when asked for explicitly by the right person, but only if he had to.

Annie didn't persist.

"Time's just the raw material from which we build our lives." She turned around to take in the settlers' camp and the region beyond.

"It's the love we share and the sacrifices we make for others that count. I'm very thankful for the time I had with my family, but now I need to start something new. I don't know yet how it will look. I just know I want to build something good that will last."

It was far easier for him to talk to her about her own hopes and aspirations than about his past.

"Building something new takes more courage than just traveling to far away places."

"What was it like when you first saw alien worlds?"

"Confusing."

She laughed out loud, and he felt himself relax too.

"Does it get better?"

"A little."

She indicated the stars in a sweeping gesture with her right hand.

"Have you been to many different planets?"

"It comes with my job." He liked to see her joyful.

"When I was a child, I always dreamed of being an explorer and seeing different worlds. Now just seeing new settlers seems almost too much."

"You'll get used to it. Don't give up your dreams, Annie. You're never too old for them. One day you will travel to the stars."

She looked pensive.

"Maybe I will. What were your dreams when you were a child?"

No peace for him tonight. He had to get the hard facts out of the way.

"Staying alive. I grew up in an orphanage. Conditions were rough."

"I'm sorry." Her lips moved mutely in sympathy.

"It can't have been such a terrible place when it created the upright man you are today."

Wolf Den had created far more than that.

"I survived, and I learned to appreciate friends and the rule of law."

"So you don't have a home, or someone waiting for you?"

"Home isn't a place. It's where I have friends." He wanted to tell her she was one of those special friends who made the universe a good place, but couldn't find the words to do so.

"Any place where people welcome you is a good place. I want to build a home where I can make others feel comfortable. You'll always be welcome to visit."

He didn't need to see the warmth in her eyes to know she meant it.

They resumed their walk.

"What are your plans now that you have your land, Annie?"

"I'll scout out the terrain tomorrow, see what would be a good place to build my ranch and where to get the raw materials. In a week, my family is going to come with provisions, and they'll help me build a house. After that, I'll move my horses … and keep working. It may not sound very exciting, but that's my life."

"It sounds good."

She just shrugged. "What are your plans?"

"Patrol the Empty Zone, write my reports, save the universe."

"In that order?"

"Maybe I'll stop on Mars Station first to get some fuel for my interceptor."

She laughed, a sound that started in her throat and filled her whole body.

"Send me a postcard when you're done."

And then they had already reached her tent and he needed to say good night to her.

On the way back to Ranger-1 he wondered what her farm would look like. Probable very practical, like herself, but with some special touches that showed her care for friends.

In a way, Annie was like an exotic bird that had fluttered into his life. She was generous with her affection, giving it freely long before he'd earned it. She knew how to fight, yet fighting wasn't at the core of what motivated her.

His colleagues were easier to understand. Both Doc and Niko made new friends quickly, but beneath their pleasant exterior they had learned to overcome constant opposition. Zachary never talked about his youth on Mars, but there was enough in Mars history to turn him into the kind of man who would forever protect others from what he had seen.

Annie could be gruff, but she was willing to bare far more of her soul than anyone else he knew.

She had the talent to transform a steppe into an palace and make others feel welcome there, and he could offer her little encouragement because hospitality was an ability he lacked.

Unbidden, he remembered one of Daisy's remarks from when he had distracted her on the Cheyenne.

'Galaxy ranger or outlaw, you need the danger. You'd go crazy if you had to tie yourself to a place and go through the same routine every day.'

The memory clung to him like her skin had.

He wasn't like her. He didn't make others pay his bills. He wouldn't take a risk just for the thrill of it, and never risk anyone's life but his own. He wasn't an outlaw. Yet the part of him that insisted on uncomfortable truths added that beating the odds was a habit for him. It had to be for a super trooper and galaxy ranger.

He wasn't the same man anymore he had been at Wolf Den. He knew what to fight for. He still didn't know what to do except fighting.

* * *

><p>As Annie was undressing and lying down, her conscience relieved and her spirit optimistic, she remembered their parting words.<p>

"Think of us when you explore other worlds."

"I couldn't forget you any more than I could forget that the sun is bright and the moon is beautiful."

In a way she was glad he was back to his overdone compliments. She could feel the sincerity behind them even if they sounded like they came straight out of a book of etiquette, and she didn't quite know how to handle his darker moods. She had also meant to ask him about his ability to transform his body into different life forms, but then it didn't matter with friends. She pulled the warm blanket over herself. Tomorrow would be a wonderful new day.

* * *

><p>Daisy waited patiently. She would not always have to put up with Macross and the galaxy rangers.<p>

Getting a foothold on Ozark would have been nice; knowing her enemies better was the consolation price. She had only suspected it before, but now she was certain that Shane Gooseman was willing to gamble, even if he would call it differently.


	3. Chapter 3

Life as it is – 3

An unexpected visit by Carson forces Zachary to remember the past.

Set during "Westride", concurrent to "Life as it is – 2".

Rating: K+/PG

_Disclaimer: 'The Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers' is copyrighted by Hearst Entertainment, Inc. This is a work of fanfiction and I make no profit of it._

* * *

><p>While the computer slowly transmitted the collected claims to a League database, Zachary enjoyed the opportunity to be alone with his thoughts in the land registration office.<p>

He had hardly gotten a moment of quiet since arriving on Ozark, and it was as a good opportunity to compose his report while his memories were still fresh. It would also give him time to chat with his children when their time zones synced.

What he wrote took up one page, what he didn't write could have filled a lot more.

… _We detected a group of about five subjects in land rush territory and gave chase. … One of the pursued threw a grenade that detonated the bridge we were riding over. Our robot horses were able to jump the abyss, but my horse, Brutus, failed to gain a firm stand and had to be steadied by the other rangers with the help of lassos. Because of that delay, the group of trespassers that we had pursued escaped. … _

He was used to getting close to death during his work. He didn't take it personal, but it greatly increased his motivation to arrest the perpetrators. He wondered if it had been Daisy's intent to kill them. Probably not her prime goal. In her logic, if you couldn't fly, it was your own fault.

… _We identified Macross, Daisy O'Mega and four other members of the Blackhole Gang but could not apprehend them due to their being on the other side of the starting line. … _

Criminals were the spice of his professional life, but he liked his food bland. He also enjoyed creating order out of disorder and escorting the arrested to prison.

… _At the starting line, we checked the mounts of people registered for the land rush and disqualified 13 of them. … _

He had been to territory openings before, more than 15 years ago on Nebraska. But these had been lotteries and mostly well-organized and peaceful. Ozark had attracted a lot more fortune hunters. Before the hyper drive, being a galaxy ranger mostly meant escorting freighters, tracking down smugglers and assisting local law enforcement. The basic principles stayed the same, only that now dragons, sorcerers, singing cats and the occasional alien invasion had entered the mix.

… _Using a wooden tower-like construction whose feet they set to explode, the Blackhole Gang was able to bridge the abyss. Through her psi powers, ranger Niko detected that they planned to rob three settlers of their tracking devices and take possession of their claims. We split up to warn the claimants. … _

Goose went to help Annie. There was no way Zachary could have kept him from that task.

Niko took Carson. For all she disliked his attempts to flirt with her, she was the one he was least likely to pull a trick on.

Doc got Roy McIntyre. If he had to be robbed, Roy would most enjoy complaining to Doc. They were two of a kind even if they didn't admit it. He wondered if he should explain to Doc that on Mars nicknames were a sign of comradeship. You only went back to calling someone by their full name if you were about to die or kill them.

All in all, that part of the mission had been a success. Niko didn't throw Carson back into the water, Goose didn't break anyone's bones, and Roy still called Doc Wally.

Zachary himself had shouldered the task of dealing with the Ozark elders. He spent one hour trying to convince them that the Blackhole Gang's tower was contrary to the rules, one and a half hours that they should rescind the immunity for previous crimes and half an hour patrolling the ravine beyond the starting line to vent his frustration.

… _Through the strength of Brutus and the other robot horses, we were able to transplant the markers and arrest the Blackhole Gang when they crossed unknowingly over the line. This maneuver was conforming to the stated rules of the land rush. …_

Writing down a justification for moving the markers was easy. It was the Blackhole Gang's own fault if they didn't check the coordinates of the starting line. Never trust a galaxy ranger if you stand on the other side of the law.

Believing what he wrote was harder. But much more had been at stake than the three claims or the arrest of the Blackhole Gang. He hadn't moved the markers for Roy or Annie and certainly not for Wildfire. They'd have been able to find a different piece of land, even if having the Blackhole Gang installed in the New Territory would have been a nuisance.

He had done it for his team. He was afraid how one defeat after another would tear them to pieces and apart. He had always separated his job and his personal life, but after the Queen captured Eliza, it had become more difficult to focus. His teammates helped him stay alive and sane. Sometimes relationships were more important than order.

He wondered if they had a bad influence on him. But then, the universe had changed. Aliens just didn't draw numbers when to attack Earth.

Somebody knocked. He activated the lock of his e-pad and went to open the door. He was prepared to tell the elders that whatever their problem was, he would take care of it tomorrow – and saw himself face to face with Carson.

"May I come in?"

"What for?" The words were out of his mouth before he could think better of it.

"Well, I have to thank you rangers for helping me reclaim my land, don't I?"

Wildfire looked around the room, ostensibly for a place to hang his hat. He had a talent to feel welcome even if he wasn't.

"What are you going to use the land for?"

"Settling down. Sit in the shade on my veranda. Read a good book and sip some good wine."

"You've never settled down in your life."

Zachary briefly thought that Carson was on the other side of the demarcation line. There had to be some outstanding warrants for him. Theoretically, he could have arrested him, but it would have been petty.

"I came back to Mars pretty regularly."

You better hadn't, Zachary thought.

Cody walked past him into the room. Zachary gave in and shut the door.

"How's your family?" Carson put his hat on the table, but stopped short of appropriating a chair. His clothes were more rumpled than usual, but otherwise he didn't look like someone who had almost drowned.

"Good."

His sibling were employed and not in jail.

His mother was still working, never giving in to fatigue.

„The kids are doing fine in school like you did?" Carson crumpled his hat in an old habit.

"Excellent."

Jessy had been commended for doing the best physics presentation, and Zach junior had improved his grade in French to a B and been accepted onto the school basketball team.

"You wouldn't happen to have a photo of them?"

"What?!"

"Avoiding you hasn't been as easy as it used to be since we got the Andorean hyper drive. We haven't really talked in 20 years."

"And there is no need to change that." Zachary almost threw Carson out, but there was something serious in the desperado's eyes that said this wasn't a trick. At least not entirely.

"You know, I don't believe in guilt trips, but there are some things I think I ought to make amends for."

"Become a decent citizen then."

Unasked, Carson took a chair and put two bottles and two plastic beakers on the table.

"Coke and whiskey. Take your pick. The coke is more expensive to get on border worlds."

Zachary stared at the drinks. His first thoughts were delirium, poison and bribe, but none of it made sense.

„How's your wife?" Carson asked as he unscrewed the bottles.

"That's none of your concerns." A tornado couldn't have been colder than Zachary's voice.

Carson rocked back and forth on his chair. It squeaked audibly.

"The strange thing is, when I asked your colleagues about your family, they changed the topic or suddenly remembered to arrest me. So did your wife leave you, or did something happen to her?"

Zachary didn't reply. He'd already decided he wouldn't arrest Cody today, and Mars would turn green before he told an outlaw anything personal.

His silence must have told Carson enough.

"All right, as you said, it's none of my business. You know, I'm glad you didn't get your moral standards from me because it's not my strong side. But if I've learned one thing in 57 years, it is that you don't allow life to get you down."

"Why would you care at all, and what brought about this sudden change of heart?"

"Well, you know, one day I was traveling along the Denorius Belt, and my life support processor gave out. I had no replacement, and I thought my number was up. I sent out a distress signal, but I didn't hold much hope. As I was drifting in and out of a haze, some smugglers came. Took all my cargo, but left me an old life support processor. 20 minutes later, galaxy rangers showed up and wanted to arrest me. Took me quite a while to lose them among the debris. I had to get way too close to the asteroids, and the maneuvers almost used up the little life support I had left. Anyway, I'm getting too old for that type of adventure, so the thought crossed my mind I should settle down."

In Carson's mind, it probably made some amount of sense.

His watch told Zachary he'd have to go soon.

"You've been looking for danger all your life. Why would this instance make any difference?"

"I've escaped from the jaws of death more times than I care to count, but never for forgetting to buy replacement parts. And, I don't know, have I been so bad at taking care of things?"

Zachary stiffened. He had to tell his bionics to relax.

"There is a party going on. Why don't you join it? I still have work to do."

Carson grabbed his hat.

"Fine then. I guess I made enough amends for one evening."

As Wildfire walked out, he left an empty chair and two bottles Zachary didn't know what to do with.

He could have laughed at the absurdity of Carson trying to start over if it hadn't taken all his effort not to break the back of the chair he was clenching. He felt like running a marathon fast.

Carson was harmful simply by way of his example.

There were many things in Zachary's life that weren't as he wished them to be. He hadn't chosen to grow up on Mars during the Great Drought, or to be an orphan, or to know Carson. He made the best of what life handed him.

His step-father, Jim, had taught him how to do the right thing even under the pressure of hardship. His mother had taken care of the survival part of life. Jim was black and white. Mum added enough gray to make it work. When Carson came, he added splashes of color. Some of them were read.

It had been 18 years since Zachary left the wasteland of Mars. He'd gotten as close to perfection as he could by marrying Eliza. She was the part of him that could see the beautiful side of things.

"Why don't you give him a chance?"

"You don't know him."

Carson had some reliability, in his own way, but you couldn't depend on him to show up every day, clean the dishes or keep people out of trouble.

"Of course I don't know him because you never told me about him."

Zachary's step-father died when he was ten. His mother sold the family farm and moved to the slums of Mars City where she found work in a factory. A year later, Carson showed up and became a regular visitor in their family. He kept stopping by for four years. His mother never accepted money from him, but he brought his own food and took the kids to play. Zachary, Aron, Eileen and Karen trusted him.

"You can't trust Carson."

"Can't you forgive him?"

Sometimes he was afraid that hearing her voice meant he had gone crazy, but he was more afraid of not hearing it anymore.

"I'm not looking for revenge."

Whenever he was talking to her, she wore the white-blue uniform designed for civilian employees that she had worn the last day he had seen her unharmed.

"Fine. Then can't you talk to him?"

"You don't know him. Hist list of crimes is longer than the average government budget."

"No, I don't. But I know that you know what it is like to live with regret."

She was standing there, looking at him with compassionate eyes, yet too far away to touch.

Carson didn't deserve this. But then, by definition, there was no way anyone could deserve forgiveness.

"What would your life have been like without Carson?" Eliza asked.

"I would have been older when I first tried ice cream. I wouldn't have seen half the parks of Mars City I did. We wouldn't have had any toy lions. My stupid brother wouldn't have gotten it into his head that being and outlaw is something glorious."

"What happened to Aron?"

"He joined a gang. They treated him as cannon fodder. He lost his right hand in a raid. Mum used up all our savings to buy a simple prosthesis for him. He got four years of juvenile detention. Used it to learn a trade. He's making do as a mechanic."

"I don't think Carson intended to hurt your family."

"We're responsible not only for what we intend to do."

Curious now, she turned around to face him.

"Is that why you became a galaxy ranger, to fight outlaws?"

It was easier to be totally honest with her when she was only a figure of his memory, and that frightened him.

"No. If you live for revenge, it catches up with you."

That was the law of Mars: live by a gun, die by a gun. You became either a victim or a fighter. A cop or a criminal.

"What was your motive then?"

"Hope. I wanted to get out of it."

The only way away from Mars were the skies, as Carson would say. Only that he didn't use them to leave crime behind.

"Was everything you learned from Carson bad?"

"He's dangerous even to those he loves. You have to draw a line somewhere."

"I know you're good at that, honey. But what type of picture are you drawing?"

"I... I don't understand." She was a literature teacher, but he didn't think she was quoting.

She turned sideways again.

"No little thing that you could be thankful for?"

"He taught me to bluff at poker."

Her outline was fading. Maybe he couldn't envision what more she would have said. He was alone again.

The two bottles were reminding him he needed to come to a decision.

Although he would never admit it to anyone, knowing Carson had prepared him for being a galaxy ranger. Without that experience, commanding a team of rangers who thought moving the markers, using a band of Lycans for interrogation and donating used cyclops technology to Tarkon was part of their job would long have driven him crazy.

"Maybe there were one or two things to be thankful for."

He didn't think he would regret never talking to Carson again, but why take any chances.

He gathered up the bottles and the beakers and made a detour to their ship to get some dice. He found Carson on the other side of the line where he was playing star-poly with the pocket version of his AI, Roberta. Carson looked surprised to see him.

"I didn't come to talk. There is an amnesty this side of the line. Let's just say right now I only remember that you used to be an expert at playing Yatzy."


End file.
